Tourism will have an active year in 2008 with more hotels -- and lots of bowlers

New hotels will dot the state in 2008, with a construction boom underway at several casinos, including Isleta, Pojoaque and Laguna Pueblos, and renovations starting or finishing up in the Albuquerque area on several properties.

A new water park is also in the works as part of a renovated Albuquerque hotel. And the return of direct flights to Mexico from Albuquerque is one of the factors that has many tourism officials looking to the international markets for increasing tourist traffic.

As for the state's infamous "alien" ambassadors, they will continue touting the state. The ads, which debuted last year, ran in two test markets, San Diego and Minneapolis. They will now run in traditional feeder markets such as Phoenix, El Paso, and West Texas, said Michael Cerletti, secretary of the Tourism Department.

"That's the low-hanging fruit," he said. And Cerletti said so far the results look good, so love them or hate them (and many tourism professionals have been vocal in their hatred), the reptilian-style alien creatures will stay for now. The firm that created the ads for the state, M&C Saatchi, said they were the most effective use of the state's smaller tourism marketing budget.

Added Cerletti, "We need something that cuts through the clutter."

That skimpy budget is once more on the tourism industry's legislative agenda. Cerletti said he will ask for $5 million for the tourism marketing budget, which will still be less than the national average of $6.4 million, but would be a significant increase over the 2006-07 ad budget of $2.9 million.

Tourism officials in the Duke City will be focusing on reinvestment in the Albuquerque Convention Center, pushing for a headquarters-type convention hotel and a Downtown events center.

A 1 percent hospitality tax was introduced three years ago on hotels and that has given the renovation effort good momentum, say hospitality officials, but Albuquerque is behind the curve of cities like Tucson, which is making a major push to draw convention traffic with a new events center and expanded headquarters hotel, said Dale Lockett, president and CEO of the Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau. The Albuquerque Convention Center is 37 years old, although part of it was renovated in 1991.

A hotel is particularly important to boost the number of rooms Downtown, Lockett added. Most convention destinations have at least 1,000 rooms within walking distance of the center. Albuquerque has fewer than 500.

These challenges will be temporarily eclipsed in the first half of 2008 by the United States Bowling Congress, which starts in mid-February and will bring 65,000 bowlers here through July, or about 1,200 every week, for tournaments. Construction crews will turn the convention center floors into a 60-lane bowling stadium. And the addition of the Rail Runner between Santa Fe and Albuquerque opens up a whole new marketing opportunity for both destinations, Lockett said.

"We are moving into more of a regional marketing strategy to leverage our assets," he said.

Tourism officials are hoping the new Frontier Airlines' flights to Puerto Vallarta will bring more Mexican tourists to New Mexico, and bring more New Mexicans to Albuquerque to stay either before or after taking a Mexican flight. ABQ Uptown has been helpful in this regional strategy, he said, because it has shops that don't exist elsewhere in New Mexico.

"Puerto Vallarta is just the first step," Lockett said. "There are other markets we have tremendous interest in."

A new water park might help those efforts. American Property Management Co., which just completed a multi-million dollar renovation of the Radisson Hotel at 2500 Carlisle Blvd. NE, is building a 33,000-square-foot water park next to the hotel that it expects to open in mid-2008.

Michael Gallegos, president and CEO of American Property, said it will be the fifth largest indoor water park in the country and will cost about $20 million to build. Geared to families during the day, it will be more of a nightclub scene after dark, Gallegos said. It will have a dual wave rider that simulates ocean waves and will allow it to offer tournaments and competitions, as well as draw skiers and snowboarders when the ski season is over.

And ski season looks to be a fantastic one so far -- if the snow levels at the end of 2007 were any indication. Many resorts are reporting healthy amounts of the white stuff, according to Ski New Mexico, which could help compensate for a dry season several years ago.

Rural tourism took a big hit with the closure of the Rural Economic Development Through Tourism project, which lost federal funding. But the Tourism Association of New Mexico is looking to bridge the gaps left by REDTT's closure, said Sharon Shultz, the new executive director of the TANM. Her group plans to work with the tourism councils that the program created in several counties. The Governor's Conference on Tourism, presented by TANM each year, will give a boost to tourism outside the Albuquerque-Santa Fe corridor when it takes place in Roswell this April. It will also focus on the international visitors market.